Product Design

Product design is about constantly examining the relationship between products and their users. There are all sorts of products and they are everywhere, from the purely functional to those that make a statement.

Emerging new technologies are triggering debate about the foundations of existing ideas about product design, use and the product economy. The free use of new distribution and production opportunities are creating major opportunities for product designers now.

At its core, product design is about questioning and redefining what already exists. This is why, as a product designer, you develop meaning and think about appearance.

An important part of your course is discovering and developing materials, often new ones, and production processes by literally ‘getting your hands dirty’. You could even go one step further: to not be afraid to dismantle the existing, both in a physical and a conceptual sense as well as in terms of production and distribution. In doing so, you develop new ideas and ways of use; you dive deeply into the consequences of designing in practice. Examples are aspects such as environmental and social sustainability.

As a product designer, you are thus not limited to existing instruments, but you either adapt these instruments or you design your own instruments. This goes beyond the product itself: product design is not limited to tangible things, but it can also result into a process or a service.

In short, product designers are people who see themselves as experimental, research-driven, collaborative and entrepreneurial in imagining how products can change our future.

Creating Pioneers

Our successful Lifestyle alumni include: Suzanne van Beest (nominated for the Electrolux Design Lab Competition and listed in HOT100) and Isaac Monté (winner of the Drempel Award 2013 and the Henri Winkelman Award 2013; currently he is Head of the Department of Product Design at The Academy of Design in Colombo/Sri Lanka).